Combined diving catapult and swimming pool



COMBINED DIVING CATAPULT AND SWIMMING POOL Filed Nov. 14, 1966 IL, I Z6 Z7 TION or EASE-"- United States Patent O 3,466,053 COMBINED DIVING CATAPULT AND SWIMMING POOL William F. Whaley, P.O. Box 766, Moorhead, Minn. 56560 Filed Nov. 14, 1966, Ser. No. 593,936 Int. Cl. A63b 71/00; F41b 3/02 US. Cl. 272-65 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A catapulting device including a seat at one end of a pair of rods which at their opposite ends are pivotable about a transverse shaft supported between stationary bearings, the shaft carrying a pulley, one end of a tension cord being stationarily mounted to a post, the opposite end of the tension cord being afiixed to a projecting end of one of the rods, the tension cord being passed around the pulley so to cause the rods to be pivoted about the shaft and catapulting a person positioned in the seat.

This invention relates to propelling devices, and more particularly a diving catapult.

It is therefore the main purpose of this invention to provide a diving catapult which is designed to be erected adjacent to a swimming pool for propelling a swimmer therein.

Another object of this invention is to provide a diving catapult which ejects the diver or swimmer in a safe manner.

Another object of this invention is to provide a diving catapult which may be manufactured as a toy.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a diving catapult which is of rugged construction, safe to use, requires minimum maintenance, and provides maximum utility to its user.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein a satisfactory embodiment of the invention is shown. However, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the details disclosed but include all such variations and modifications as fall within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view showing the embodiment of this invention.

FIGURE 2 is a cross sectional view taken along the lines 2-2 of FIGURE 1 showing the divers seat and bungee cord in side elevation ready for ejection.

FIGURE 3 is a cross sectional view taken along the lines 2-2 of FIGURE 1 but showing the tension biasing means released and the divers seat assuming perpendicular relationship to the ground.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged detailed showing method of releasing the tension biasing means for the purpose of ejecting the divers seat.

According to this invention, a diving catapult is generally used with a swimming pool 11 and is provided with an upright support member 12 located near said pool 11. Catapult support member 12 is provided with an opening 13 which houses a laterally disposed shaft 14. A pair of support members 15 are secured within opening 13 and are capable of rotatably supporting shaft 14 therebetween. A pair of spaced apart rings 16 carry elongated support rods 17, one end of which terminate within an ejection seat 18. A generally T-shaped r. lCQ

foot rest member 19 is directly connected with the bottom portion of the seat 18 for providing feet support means to a swimmer or diver seated within said ejection seat 18 and thus protecting him or her from injury. One end 20 of one of rods 17 assumes plate-like configuration (see FIGURE 1) and is designed to receive the end portion of tension biasing means 23. A pulley 21 is supported on shaft 14 adjacent said plate-like end portion of support rod 17, said pulley 21 operably receives one end of tension biasing means 23 and the other end of said cord terminates within a cylindrical member 24 at a ring 26 secured to the upright seat support member 25. The top portion of member 25 is provided with a horizontally disposed stub 27, a portion of which extends outwardly therefrom and it acts as a latch means for a pivotal release handle 28 rotatably secured on one side of ejection seat 18.

It will also be noted that, in operation, a person seated within the ejection seat 18 pulls upwardly handle 28 thus releasing said handle from stub 27. This causes an immediate upward propulsion of seat 18. A stop member 29 secured to one side of support member 15 terminates the rotation of support rods 17 when seat 18 assumes perpendicular relationship to the ground thereby disposing the occupant of said seat into pool 11.

What I now claim is:

1. In combination, a swimming pool and a diving catapult, said catapult comprising an upright support member, with a central well therein formed by vertical opposite side and end walls, a laterally positioned shaft rotatably supported between opposite side walls of said upright support member, a pair of spaced parallel rods secured tangentially at one end to members fixed upon said shaft, an ejection seat secured at the other end of said parallel rods and having a front foot rest integral therewith, a pulley secured to said shaft, a vertical post so located relative to said seat to serve as a seat support when said rods are in a horizontal position and said seat is positioned over said post, a manually disengageable lock means located between said seat and said post, tension biasing means connected between said posts and pulley to exert a biasing force on said rods when said seat is locked by said lock means and to urge said seat to pivot around said shaft toward an upright position to propel a person into said pool when said lock means is released.

2. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said members fixed upon said shaft securing said rods are a pair of circular rings being mounted on said shaft in a spaced apart relationship to each other and each of said rings being adapted to support one end of each of said elongated rods.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 214,962 4/1879 Smith 124--7 824,506 6/ 1906 Obiols 272- 1,282,248 10/1918 Lewinski 1247 FOREIGN PATENTS 332,535 2/ 1921 Austria.

70,296 l/ 1915 Switzerland.

RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner T. ZACK, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 124-7, 36 

